Designing Your Bathroom

As a DIY bathroom renovator bathroom design is something which you really have to give a lot of thought to. In most cases you will already have an idea of what you envisage your new / renovated bathroom or ensuite will look like but now you have to make that vision a reality, so how do you do it?
Before we answer that question there are some other factors we must take into consideration. In … Find Out More

Planning a Bathroom Reno

Planning to renovate your bathroom or ensuite yourself?
As you know this is not a project for beginners. Bathroom renovations are major works and involve a lot of time and some very hard work. But if you’ve come this far and you think you can do it then we are prepared to help you as much as we can with advice and tips from experts in this field.
Below you will find a series of steps which we highly … Find Out More

The Renovation Overview

Steps 11 to 22
Below are the next 12 stages (in order) for your DIY bathroom renovation project. Each step on the list below is also a link to a separate page where our experts will give you their advice on completing the work. Again we stress that there is a lot of hard and intricate work ahead so be prepared and remember….. Safety First!
Strip-out of Existing Bathroom
Rough-in of Plumbing and … Find out More

How to Strip Out a Bathroom

The strip out of the bathroom is one of the most important steps as many things can go wrong if you are not careful. First step before you get started on anything is to prep the floors with drop sheets and cover up all the furniture. This is the dustiest, messiest and noisiest part of the project. Make sure you have all necessary protection. i.e. earmuffs, protective glasses, breathing masks, gloves, protective … Find Out More

Rough-in Plumbing & Electrical

One of the most crucial aspects of renovating a bathroom is the plumbing and electrical rough-in. Any mistakes or shortcuts will involve ripping off tiles, damaging walls and waterproof to rectify!
Stage 6:
Firstly, place all your new fittings inside the newly demolished bathroom. Most people like to visualise exactly how the tapware positioning will look on the wall. If you can visualise this from plan then … Find Out More

Rendering or Re-Sheeting Walls

This step represents the main preparation for the waterproofing and tiling. You need to make sure you can get you walls as level or plumb as possible otherwise it will become much more difficult at the waterproofing and tiling stage.
Stage 9:
Re-Sheeting – For re-sheeting walls to timber frames you will require the following materials and tools:
6mm villaboard
Tape measure
32mm timber screws – Used … Find Out More

Waterproofing

Stage 11
Waterproofing is perhaps the most crucial step of renovating a bathroom. It is required to ensure that any water leaks are fully contained. If the waterproofing fails the damage can be severe and rectification involves stripping out your bathroom and starting over. We cannot over emphasise the importance of this step so please make sure you either do it properly or get a professional … Find Out More

Tiling

Stage 13
The tiles you select for your DIY bathroom renovation will almost certainly be the most noticeable feature of your bathroom. But choosing your tiles is only the start. Laying the tiles is the tricky part and if you’re a first timer you will need to be extremely careful with this stage of your DIY bathroom renovation project.
Okay, ready?
First step is laying down the cement base. This is what gets … Find Out More

Shower Screens

Stage 14
There are a variety of shower screen designs and configurations so the installation of your new shower screen will depend on which design your choose. In our experience frameless glass shower screens seem to be the most popular choice so below we have outlined a frameless glass shower screen installation process. At this point we should also say that you will be dealing with large … Find Out More

Final Wiring

Stage 15
Bathroom wiring is strictly a “no go” area for even the most experienced handyman / woman or DIY expert. Bathroom wiring MUST be undertaken by a licensed electrician. This is not only a legal requirement but it’s simply never a good idea to risk severe injury or death for the sake of not using a licensed professional.
Before reaching the final electrical wiring stage you will already … Find Out More

Installing Vanity & Benchtop

Stage 16
Many DIY bathroom renovators mistake this step as being simple. It is NOT! In fact it’s one of the most intricate steps of the entire bathroom renovation and unless it’s done perfectly it can lead to major rectification works as well as damage to the vanity and bench top. But if you’re confident you can do it then let’s start.
Now to start off:
Use a measuring tape and pencil to … Find Out More

Full Plumbing Installation

Stage 17
If you have roughed in mixer taps, the fit off of these is fairly simple. For the shower, all you have to do is mount the cover plate on and attach the handle. Each brand has a different method of doing this although most times the handle is simply attached by tightening with a Allen key from the bottom. Installing the mixer tap on to the vanity is also fairly simple. Screw in the hot … Find Out More

Install Bathroom Accessories

Stage 18
Installing bathroom accessories onto tiles can be tricky.
We always recommend putting up the accessories and determining the positions after all the plumbing has been installed to give you a clearer perspective. Once you have determined all the positioning, proceed to mark them out with a pencil. Of course you will need to make sure all the fittings are installed level.
Now the … Find Out More

Painting

Stage 19
So for all intents and purposes your bathroom renovation is complete and the finishing touch is of course the paint. Regardless of the colour choice / pattern of your tiles we highly recommend you go with white as your paint colour as this will almost always make your bathroom look bigger than it really is.
The usual paint protection rules apply and on this point please don’t make … Find Out More